Measurement of Contact Forces On A Kayak Ergometer With A Sliding Footrest 8211 Seat Complex

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Sports Eng (2009) 11:67–73

DOI 10.1007/s12283-008-0011-2

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Measurement of contact forces on a kayak ergometer


with a sliding footrest–seat complex
Mickaël Begon Æ Floren Colloud Æ Patrick Lacouture

Published online: 26 November 2008


Ó International Sports Engineering Association 2008

Abstract Kinematic analysis is done by measurement of Keywords Kayak  Ergometer  Instrumentation 


the position of bodies, followed by differentiation to get the Contact forces
accelerations of the centres of mass, and it is widely used in
sport research. Another common approach is to measure
the forces directly. Our intention here is to perform both a 1 Introduction
kinematic and a kinetic analysis of the same athlete-
equipment system, in this case an athlete on a sliding kayak Flatwater kayaking has been an Olympic event since the
ergometer, with the aim of exploring the errors that may 1924 Paris Games. Performance is determined by the time
occur with each measurement type. The kayak ergometer to cover the race distance (i.e. 500 and 1,000 m for
with a sliding trolley, instrumented by seven uniaxial force Olympic competitions). World-class performances require
sensors and two goniometers, was placed in a filming area. commitment from athletes over years to develop complex
The instrumentation was validated in the direction of the skills and abilities (e.g. coordination, force, physiological
anteroposterior axis using Newton’s second law. Ten ath- parameters). Kayaking is a cyclic movement composed of
letes paddled at 92 strokes per minute, following a alternate left and right strokes. A stroke begins with the
stationary phase. The comparison between the net force initial blade–water contact and ends with the blade–water
and the time-derivative of the linear momentum indicated a contact on the opposite side. Hence each stroke includes a
friction level of about 20 N between the trolley and the propulsion (or water phase) followed by an aerial phase
frame. Other errors came mainly from the inertial param- and involves asymmetrical movements of the left and right
eters of the trunk. A first analysis of contact forces shows a limbs. For each stroke, the segments which are on the side
large inter-subject variability, in particular for the forces of the propulsive blade are identified as the draw segments
applied to the footrest and the seat. whereas those which are on the side of the aerial blade are
identified as the thrust segments (Mann and Kearney 1980).
The propulsion begins with a trunk rotation combined with
a small bending of the trunk, the draw upper limb being
M. Begon
School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough
fully extended whereas both lower limbs are flexed. The
University, Ashby Road, Loughborough, propulsion involves muscular actions for rotating the trunk,
Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK extending the draw knee while flexing the thrust knee and
keeping both upper limbs as extended as possible. The
M. Begon (&)
propulsion phase ends at the blade exit, the thrust upper
Department of Kinesiology, University of Montreal,
Canada Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, limb crossing over the athlete’s face and the draw hand
Montreal, Canada reaching the level of the hip joint. As a result, kayaking
e-mail: [email protected] requires actions of trunk, upper and lower limb muscles
throughout a complex coordination.
F. Colloud  P. Lacouture
Laboratory of Solid Mechanics, CNRS UMR 6610, The kayaking performance can be modelled with
University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France the dynamics of the anteroposterior translation of the
68 M. Begon et al.

Kayak–Athlete–Paddle system. The change in velocity of Usually, the kinematics in the local reference frame is
this system depends on the difference between the blade reproduced (see Begon et al. 2003 and Lamb 1989 for
force and the total resistance (i.e. aerodynamic and hydro- kayaking and rowing examples). The main problem is
dynamic drag). The forces applied to the footrest and to the about the reproduction of contact forces on ergometer
seat are internal forces of this system. The relationship of compared to the outdoor activity. On water, the difference
these internal forces with the performance is not obvious. in magnitude between the blade force and the total resis-
The kayaker can (1) keep his lower limbs motionless by tance creates change in the Kayak–Athlete–Paddle linear
applying forces to the footrest that counterbalance the blade momentum. Conventional kayaking ergometers were con-
force or (2) use pedalling motions that cause a longitudinal structed with static footrest and seat. The paddle tips force
pelvis rotation (Logan and Holt 1985). The lower limb does not produce acceleration of the system but creates
actions, added to those of the trunk and the upper limbs, extra forces on the footrest or the seat (Begon and Colloud
increase the stroke length. A stroke technique that uses 2007). As for rowing (Elliot et al. 2001, Colloud et al.
pelvis and trunk rotations around a vertical axis seems to be 2006) a solution could be to use a sliding trolley to
an adequate co-ordination to improve the performance in reproduce the on-water dynamics. The purpose of the
kayaking. However, in both cases, differences in force present study was to provide accurate quantitative infor-
distribution at the contact points of the athlete with the mation about both kinematics and contact forces when
kayak can produce the same kinematics because the forces kayaking on an ergometer with a sliding trolley.
applied to the footrest and the seat can have opposite sign.
A performance assessment based on mechanical quan-
tities requires simultaneous kinematics and kinetics data 2 Materials and methods
collection. To our knowledge, the instrumentation neces-
sary for this complete investigation suitable for water and The instrumented system enabled the measure of the an-
laboratory tests has not yet been developed. Kinematics tero-posterior forces applied to the footrest, the seat and the
investigations were initiated using ergometers. Mann and paddle. It disassociated forces applied to the left and right
Kearney (1980) and Campagna et al. (1982) analysed the sides, thus opening the way to the measurement of asym-
path of the wrist, elbow and shoulder in the sagittal plane. metric actions of the draw and thrust segments. A new
However, pelvis, trunk and upper limbs kinematics can not kayaking ergometer was constructed based on the Etindus
be assumed to be planar. Accurate measurement of the (French) kayak ergometer in which an air brake simulated
three-dimensional (3D) kinematics is difficult, specifically the water drag on the blade. The flywheel was driven by
on-water (Sanders and Kendal 1992b) as this requires at two self-winding inextensible ropes linked to a paddle
least two calibrated cameras and a large filming area. In (1.64 m long). This ergometer differed from conventional
spite of these difficulties, Kendal and Sanders (1992, 1992a) kayaking ergometers by having a trolley that slid forward
reported on-water 3D descriptive analyses over a full stroke. and backward along a static frame (Fig. 1). The trolley
On-water kinematics acquisition over successive cycles of included the footrest and the seat (Fig. 2). A bungee cord
the lower limbs, which are hidden by the cockpit of the linked the trolley to the rear part of the frame. The set-up
kayak, remains challenging for the future. The scientific possibilities offered by the trolley (e.g. height of the feet
literature reports very few analyses of athletes’ contact
forces. The main reasons concern complexity in the mea-
Z
surement of the blade forces (Aitken and Neal 1992) and the
need of construction of robust and waterproof instrumen-
tation. Petrone et al. (1998) designed a four-component X
Trolley
dynamometric footrest and a six-component dynamometric Y

seat used both on-water and on ergometer. This instru- e


nge
Bu
mentation measured the forces generated by athletes at
three contact points (i.e. each foot and the seat). me
5m Fra
Faced with similar difficulties, outdoor sport activities 1.0
el
he

(e.g. cycling, running, rowing) used ergometers. Ergome-


yw

r
Fl

ters are a reasonable alternative to field testing for training, et e 5 m


ni om 3.0
evaluating athletes’ capacities and performing scientific Go

investigations. Hence, 3D kinematics synchronised with 5m


0.2
contact forces are acquired in a sheltered environment.
Using an ergometer to simulate a sport activity raises the Fig. 1 The kayaking ergometer with the sliding trolley. Dimensions
question of the similarity between the two conditions. and marker locations are also shown
Measurement of contact forces on a kayak ergometer with a sliding footrest–seat complex 69

A B To measure the force applied to the paddle tips (FPleft


and FPright ), two load cells (Entran ELPM-T2 with IAM
amplifier; measurement range 500 N, linearity and hys-
teresis\ ±0.15% FSO) were connected at the paddle tip in
series to the two ropes that linked the shaft to the flywheel.
The ropes slid into two Cardan joints placed on each side of
the flywheel (Fig. 3). The two axes (azimuth h and eleva-
Fig. 2 3D views of the ergometer trolley. Middle general view of tion /) of each goniometer were instrumented by two one-
sliding trolley with the fixed footrest (a) and the adjustable seat (b). turn linear potentiometers (Megatron MUS1900-10kX—
Detail view of the seat (left) and footrest (right) instrumentations: linearity \ 2% FSO) to measure the rope orientations.
fixed part (1), force sensor (2) and part on the cross roller bearing Then the anteroposterior components (FPx left and FPx right ) of
slides (3)
paddle tip forces were computed from force magnitudes
and rope orientations. A threshold on the rope elevation
relative to the seat and distance between the seat and the
(/0) was set to determine the relative paddle position with
feet) corresponded to those found by athletes on water. For
respect to a virtual water level. The water level was
each kayaking stroke, in the fixed reference frame (O, xyz),
expressed with respect to the height of the seat and cor-
the Trolley–Athlete–Paddle system {TAP} was accelerated
responded approximately to /0 = 0°. The tension of the
forward when the anteroposterior component of the paddle
bungee cord (FB), that linked the trolley to the frame, was
tip force was higher than the bungee cord tension (FB);
acquired using a similar load cell (Entran ELPM-T2 with
otherwise {TAP} was decelerated.
IAM amplifier).
The kayaking ergometer was instrumented to measure
The zero references of the force sensors were collected
the contact forces between the athlete and the ergometer
before each athlete’s test procedure. The kinematics was
(Figs. 1, 2) in the direction of the anteroposterior axis (x).
captured by a motion-analysis system equipped with six
To measure the asymmetrical forces applied to the footrest
infrared cameras (Saga3RT—Biogesta, France) located
(FFx left FFx right ) and to the seat (FSx left and FSx right ), the footrest
around the ergometer in high-angle shot positions (three on
and seat were divided into left and right independent parts
each side: front, side and back). The kinematics and analog
(Fig. 2). Each part was instrumented by a uniaxial force
data were synchronised and acquired at a sampling fre-
sensor (Kistler 9101A; measurement range 2,000 N, tol-
quency of 50 and 1,000 Hz, respectively.
erance of overload 500 N, linearity \ ±2% FSO and
Ten flatwater athletes with international experience
hysteresis \ 1% FSO). The electrical charge generated by
(25 ± 2.5 years, 1.78 ± 0.07 m and 78.2 ± 9.4 kg), two
the piezoelectric sensor was converted into a proportional
females and eight males, volunteered to take part in this
voltage by an industrial charge amplifier (Kistler Type
study. The frequency of their training ranged from 8 to 15
5038A). Since the feet could be strapped to the footrest, the
sessions a week. The participants completed the following
athletes [S2, S3, S5] (see Table 2) were able to generate
test schedule. They performed a warm-up routine on this
pushing and pulling actions. The sensors, placed between a
sliding ergometer until they were confident in kayaking
fixed part and a part mounted on cross roller bearing slides
with this new equipment. They were recorded during a trial
to avoid friction, were preloaded to about 500 N at the
that included static, starting and steady paddling phases.
footrest in line with the results of Petrone et al. (1998) and
First, the athletes remained in a static position for 5 s and
1,000 N at the seat. The force sensors were calibrated in
then they paddled for 40 s. They were advised to paddle at
situ after final assembly (Table 1). The acceleration of the
a constant pace of 92 strokes per minute (spm) given by a
part on the bearing slides caused contact forces on the
metronome. This pace rate is a basic cadence used during
footrest and the seat due to their mass (1.01 and 3.00 kg for
aerobic training (Szanto 2004).
each seat and each footrest, respectively). From the second
Eighteen reflective markers were placed on body land-
time-derivative of the trolley position, these contact forces
marks following Winter’s anthropometric model (Winter
were removed before any analysis.
1990): head of metatarsal II, lateral malleolus, femoral
condyle, greater trochanter, acromion process, olecranon,
Table 1 Sensitivity [N/V] of the force sensors calibrated with the ulnar styloid, knuckle II middle finger, left and right tragus.
chain of acquisition
They defined the positions of 14 body segments: feet, legs,
Footrest Seat Paddle Bungee cord thighs, trunk, arms, forearms, hands and head. The segment
inertia parameters were estimated using the anthropomet-
Right 215.0 191.0 105.9
rical model of Winter (1990). Three extra markers were
96.2
placed on the trolley and the paddle tips. In a multibody
Left 212.5 191.4 96.7
system with known external forces and kinematics, the
70 M. Begon et al.

Table 2 Root mean square difference (N) calculated according to subject, system and trial phases
Subjects Gender Mass (kg) Static Trolley Trolley–Athlete–Paddle
Starting Steady Static Starting Steady

1 M 82.1 14 21 23 16 29 56
2 M 74.5 20 23 30 25 24 35
3 M 80.0 22 22 40 12 32 59
4 F 63.6 19 17 23 19 26 37
5 M 88.0 15 31 39 19 30 50
6 F 62.8 8 20 17 16 27 32
7 M 75.6 20 21 32 17 27 39
8 M 86.9 20 29 38 13 25 35
9 M 90.0 29 30 33 21 34 59
10 M 78.4 43 32 40 25 34 46
Mean 21 ± 10 25 ± 5 32 ± 8 18 ± 4 29 ± 4 45 ± 11
Forces ranges sum 138 ± 133 757 ± 214 3063 ± 1716 57 ± 19 334 ± 62 431 ± 114
The sum of the range of forces gives information about the magnitude of external forces without considering direction

Fig. 3 The arrows show the


measured forces for both
systems: Trolley and Trolley–
Athlete–Paddle. Anteroposterior
components of the paddle forces
(FPx left and FPx right ) were computed
from paddle forces ðFPleft and
FPright ) and rope orientations
(azimuth and elevation) given
by the goniometers

system of equations is over-determined. Thus, the mea- instrumentation. To obtain the {T} dynamics, only one
surement accuracy was assessed using Newton’s second reflective marker and five force sensors were necessary,
law: the mechanical equality between the net force acting whereas the paddle tip forces, the bungee cord tension and
P
on the multibody system ( Fext/S) and the time-derivative the segment inertial parameters were involved in the
of the linear momentum of the multibody system S ðP_ S ¼ {TAP} dynamics calculation. The friction between the
MS AS Þ in an inertial reference frame: trolley and the frame as well as the air resistance were
X X assumed to be zero. Newton’s second law, applied to both
Fext=S ¼ MS AS ¼ m i ai ð1Þ
i
systems in the direction of the anteroposterior axis, yields
respectively:
where mi and ai are the mass and acceleration of the centre
of mass of the ith part (i.e. body segment, paddle or FFx left þ FFx right þ FSx left þ FSx right þ FBx ¼ mT axT ð2Þ
trolley). Segment linear acceleration was obtained from the FPx left þ FPx right þ FBx ¼ mT axT þ mA axA þ mP axP ð3Þ
time histories of the segment centre of mass position by
double differentiation with a 5-point numerical To validate the instrumentation, all residual forces (E)
differentiator. Previous to this, raw kinematics data were were evaluated (Kingma et al. 1996) by:
filtered by a bi-directional second order Butterworth filter X X
(cut-off frequency 6 Hz). According to the ergometer Fext=S þ E ¼ m i ai ð4Þ
i
instrumentation, two mechanical systems were defined
(Fig. 3): Trolley {T} and Trolley–Athlete–Paddle {TAP} The root mean square of E (RMSe) gave a value
and used to validate the different elements of the representing the residual forces over the known time
Measurement of contact forces on a kayak ergometer with a sliding footrest–seat complex 71

Fig. 4 Net force and time- [N] Static phase Starting phase Stable phase
derivative of linear momentum 200
100 Trolley-Athlete-Paddle
for the three phases (static,
starting and steady paddling) 0
and for both systems: Trolley -100
and Trolley–Athlete–Paddle for -200
trial of subject 2 200
100 Trolley
0
-100 Net force
Time derivative linear momentum
-200
time

periods: static, starting and steady phases. RMSe was Right side Left side
compared to the inaccuracy of the time-derivative of the
Pushing
linear momentum. The motion analysis accuracy was
600
determined by means of a wand with two markers placed

1. Footrest [N]
400
at a known distance (345 mm) moved throughout the
measurement volume. RMSe values between the three 200

phases (static, starting and steady paddling) were also 0


compared using nonparametric Wilcoxon tests that revealed
-200
statistical differences at a probability level of 1% (p \ 0.01).
Pushing
600
2. Seat [N]
400
3 Results
200

The average RMSe during the static phase was about 20 N 0


(Table 2). The time-derivative of the linear momentum -200
fluctuated around 0 N while the net force showed negative
Pulling
values for each system and each subject (Fig. 4). 600
3. Paddle [N]

This difference remained constant for {T} whatever the 400


phase (p [ 0.01). By contrast, RMSe for {TAP} increased
200
significantly between the consecutive phases. However,
values were less important than the cinematographic 0

inaccuracy (the only exception was for S10 during the


static phase). The maximal error in the inter-marker dis- 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Cycle [%] Cycle [%]
tance of the wand was 5.5 mm, with an error about
0.615 mm for each co-ordinate. Thus, the accuracy of the
acceleration was estimated at 1.54 ms-2. As a result, the
Fig. 5 Mean curves of the forces measured by the sensors for the
time-derivative of the linear momentum was inaccurate to population of elite athletes (bold lines) with 95% confidence intervals
40 and 110 N for {T} and {TAP} respectively. For {TAP}, above and below (thin lines) for the left and right footrests (top), seats
the inaccuracy increased with athlete’s mass. The RMSe (middle) and paddle tips (bottom). The forces were averaged and time
normalized to 100% of the kayaking cycle. The cycle begins with the
for {TAP} represented a low percentage of the sum of the
P entry of the right blade. Figures of athletes and vertical dashed lines
range of forces ( iDFi where DFi = FPi max-FPi min) that indicate the three characteristics positions (entry, verticality and exit)
reached an average of 3,063 N for {T} and 431 N for for the left and right strokes.
{TAP} in the steady paddling phase.
The curves for the left and the right side forces gener- the paddle projection on the sagittal plane is vertical), foot
ated at the paddle, the footrest and the seat showed and seat. FxP was positive before the blade entry and the value
antisymmetric patterns (Fig. 5). The highest forces were given by the sensors of the seat and footrest could be neg-
collected on the footrest, following by the seat and the ative corresponding to traction forces.
paddle. The average peak forces (min, max) applied by one
foot, one ischium and both ischia were [-300; 865],
[-590; 145] and [-576; 50] newtons, respectively. The 4 Discussion
peak values specific to each kayaker are summarized in
Table 3. The peak values occurred in the following time Newton’s second law was applied to both {TAP} and {T}
sequence: paddle (around the paddle verticality, i.e. when multibody systems to assess the measurement accuracy. As
72 M. Begon et al.

Table 3 Peak values (min, max) of the contact forces (N) measured This is also confirmed by previous Motion Capture studies
by the sensors at the footrest, seat, bungee cord and paddle for each with a kinematic analysis of shoulder–pelvis rotation as
subject during the steady paddling phase
reported in Petrone et al. (2006). Nevertheless, the RMSe
Subjects Footrest Seat Bungee Paddle remained lower than the cinematographic inaccuracy for all
subjects, systems and trial phases, with only one exception.
1 [-15, 294] [-94, 301] [67, 93] [0, 273]
The results of this experimental study were thus satisfac-
2 [-32, 521] [17, 357] [67, 98] [0, 292]
tory and validated the instrumentation.
3 [-42, 815] [-98, 588] [63, 95] [0, 309]
The validation of the sliding ergometer gave information
4 [-16, 479] [-10, 325] [54, 79] [0, 181]
on contact forces for a population of elite athletes. Our
5 [-36, 429] [-116, 439] [59, 93] [0, 305]
values were noticeably different from those measured on
6 [-25, 322] [-60, 302] [58, 69] [0, 164]
water by Petrone et al. (1998). In their study, normal forces
7 [-28, 424] [-53, 231] [66, 97] [0, 292]
applied to the footrest ranged from -152 to 444 N and
8 [14, 412] [0, 351] [67, 94] [0, 313]
from -128 to 6 N for the seat at a stroke rate of 90 spm.
9 [-9, 497] [-41, 265] [70, 104] [0, 331]
The difference in the range of forces could be explained by
10 [-11, 469] [-34, 355] [64, 98] [0, 284] the athletes’ different levels (4 versus 15 h training per
Except for the bungee cord, the peak values are for both the left and week), by the tilt of the footrest and probably by the
right sides mechanism of the two ergometers (fixed versus sliding seat
and footrest complex).
RMSe is a global indicator of the accuracy, curve analysis The force applied to the footrest was higher for the draw
(Fig. 4) gave complementary information about systematic foot and close to zero for the thrust foot. The athletes who
or random differences. The analysis of the static phase for used straps around the feet [S2, S3, S5] applied pulling
both systems highlighted an underestimated net force, actions to the footrest and the seat. These forces allowed
whilst the time-derivative of the linear momentum fluctu- pelvis rotation and compensated for the moment of the
ated about the theoretical statics value of 0 N. The rope paddle tip force. The compression force measured on the
orientations inaccuracy, which gave a random error in FxP, seat indicated that the athletes applied extra forces to
did not explain the systematic error computed for the net the footrest. The athletes seemed to anticipate the paddle
force measurement; consequently, the friction between tip force in order to avoid their knees collapsing when the
trolley and frame was not negligible. Since the residual paddle force increased sharply. Hence an increase in the
force did not significantly increase for {T}, there should be paddle force decreased only the seat force and the athlete
more agreement with Newton’s second law—at low and was able to continue the pelvis rotation. The paddle force
high stroke rates—if friction was considered or reduced was slightly positive before the blade–water contact. On
using linear ball (or cross roller) bearing slides. the ergometer, the flywheel torque depends mainly on the
By contrast, the RMSe increased significantly for {TAP} paddle tip velocity and acceleration. In flatwater paddling,
during the trial (static, starting and steady phases). Other the blade should enter into the water with a velocity to
errors came from the time-derivative of the linear offset the velocity of the boat. This paddle velocity created
momentum of the multibody system, the numerical time- paddle force just before the time corresponding to blade–
derivation and the anthropometric model being both sour- water contact. The elevation threshold (/0) defining the
ces of error. In spite of signal processing, the noise was water plane is coherent. Moreover, the ropes were self-
amplified by the calculation of acceleration. Further errors winding to keep them in tension. Due to this tension, the
originated from the estimation of segment mass and centre paddle tip force was always positive. Therefore, it will be
of mass position. The trunk viewed as a single segment important for the estimation of the propulsion to assert a
(defined by the greater trochanter and the acromion), is not null force outside the water phase. This description of
suitable for further analysis of kayaking movement. The average curves must be moderated in regard to the large
athlete’s trunk was bent forwards and rotated from left to confidence intervals, in particularly for FxF and FxS.
right. In addition, the shoulder joint contributed to extend Although each athlete reproduced precisely the contact
the paddle entry as far as possible. Thus, considering the force time histories for each cycle, there was a strong
trunk as a single segment does not sufficiently account for variability between athletes, the main difference being the
spine and sternoclavicular joint mobilities. Hatze (1980), magnitude of the forces.
Plagenhoef et al. (1983) and Yeadon (1990) proposed Although the athletes in the present study were of
trunk models divided into four parts (abdomino-thorax, international level, they produced different force patterns.
abdomino-pelvis and two shoulders) or three parts (thorax, In competition, they paddled at similar boat velocities,
abdomen and pelvis). These models could give a better except for the women (S4 and S6). The inter-subject var-
correspondence between forces and kinematical values. iability of the blade force was mainly explained by the
Measurement of contact forces on a kayak ergometer with a sliding footrest–seat complex 73

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